Air conditioning apparatus



May 17, 1966 B. o. GLAV 3,251,402

AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Filed July lO, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

(hunk Fig.2

May 17, 1966 B. o. GLAV AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July lO, 1963 United States Patent O This invention relates to an apparatus for conditioning the air in a room or building.

More particularly this invention relates to the provision of an apparatus for conditioning the air in a room or buildingr the said apparatus comprising a heat eX- changer and a moisture exchanger which Iare both adapted to perform a relative rotary movement between two passages separated from one another. One of these passages may be traversed by air leaving the room which hereinafter will be referred to as the regenerating air stream and the other passage -may be traversed by fresh or useful air from the outside which is to be conditioned in the apparatus for use in the room or building. if desired the regenerating air stream may consist of outside air while the room air is conditioned in the apparatus and thus circulates through the apparatus from and back to the room. A heat radiator is disposed between the two exchanger bodies in the passage which is traversed by the regenerating air stream which is used to regenerate `the moisture exchanger. This air first passes through the heat exchanger and then, after being heated in the radiator, passes through the moisture exchanger. The moisture exchanger, which has received moisture from the incoming air in the other passage, is thereby relieved of this moisture. Previous proposals of this kind only utilize a part of the outgoing air stream for regenerating purposes such part usually being of the same order of size as the in-coming air stream. The remainder of the outgoing air is conducted around the moisture exchanger and usually out into the open air. The channels or ducts necessary for this purpose have hitherto involved an undesirable complication of the apparatus which has meant that the size of the apparatus has been correspondingly increased.

One main object of the invention is to eliminate the inconvenience above mentioned by providing an air conditioning apparatus of the type set forth the heat radiator of which is disposed so as to allow a considerable reduction of the total size of the apparatus.

A further object of the invention is to provide an air conditioning apparatus of the type in consideration in which no extra building-up of the casing is necessary in order to provide room for the passage of the air not utilized for regeneration.

Further objects 'and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description considered in connection with the accompanying drawings which form part of this specification and of which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of an air conditioning apparatus, for a room or build-ing, constructed in accordance with the invention, certain parts of the apparatus being cut away for clarity;

FIGURE 2 is a cross-section through the apparatus along the lines II-II in FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of the apparatus to a reduced scale; and

FIGURE 4 is a horizontal central sectional view of the apparatus.

Referring to the drawings, reference numeral 10 denotes the casing of the apparatus, which is of such a size that it may be taken in through doors of conventional width, whereby the apparatus may be placed either outdoors or indoors as desired. A heat exchanger, generally denoted 12, is supported by vtwo rollers 14 each of which is carried by its own bracket 16. The heat exchanger 12 is of disc shape with flat sides spaced apart and enclosed by a metal band 18. The metal band 18 has peripheral anges 20 which form a channel into which the rollers 14 enter as illustrated in FIGURE l. In cooperation with the rollers 14 the flanges of the band 18 x the axial position of the heat exchanger 12 in the apparatus, the rollers driven by a motor 22 by -means of a suitable transmission such as a chain 24.

A moisture exchanger 26 ofv fundamentally the same construction as the heat exchanger 12 is supported by rollers 28 carried in brackets 30 and driven by a motor 29 (FIGURE 2) via a transmission 31. The moisture exchanger has a surrounding metal band 32 with peripheral anges 34 to reinforce the band and to guide the moisture exchanger axially in cooperation with the rollers 28.

The two exchanger bodies or rotors 12, 26 are filled with a mass of material adapted to form a number of passages extending substantially is an axial direction between the at side surfaces of the bodies. The mass may be composed of threads or foils forming ine axial passages extending through the material. The mass 36 of the heat exchanger 12 may suitably comprise helically wound strips of paper made of cellulose and asbestos. The paper strips may comprise iat' and creased webs which are pre-united in a machine `to produce corrugated cardboard strips. The height of the ridges of each of the creased strips is less than 3 mm. 'and preferably less than 2 mm., whereby high figure for the transfer of heat is attained.

The moisture exchanger 26 is provided with a mass 38 composed of strips of asbestos paper which may be made in-combustible. Furthermore the mass is impregnated with a moisture absorbing agent, suitably in the form of a water soluble salt, such as lithium chloride.

A vertical partition wall 40 divides the apparatus into two passages 42 and 44 of substantially the same size, the inlet passage 42 being traversed by the -air to be conditioned and the outlet passage 44- being traversed in the embodiment shown by spent air leaving the room. The two exchanger bodies 12 and -26 rotate about an axis coinciding with the principal direction of the air streams and -in doing so they :move 4alternatingly through passages 42 and 44. The direction of rotation of the heat exchanger 12 is indicated by the arrow 46 in FIG- URE 1 and that of the moisture exchanger by the arrow 47 in FIGURE l. The rotary speed of the moisture exchanger 26 is preferably lower than that of the heat exchanger 12. For example the speed of the former may be as low as a few revolutions per hour while the speed of the heat exchanger may be a few revolutions per minute.

A heat radiator, generally designated 48, Iis disposed in the passage 44 between the two rotors 12 and 26. In the embodiment shown the heat radiator comprises a plurality of parallel vertically arranged tubes 49 to the lower ends of which a combustible gas is supplied through a conduit 50 and to which is supplied through a boxlike header 52. At their lower ends the tubes `have a conical hood 54 through which air is introduced into the tubes. The tubes 49 are turned at the top through and lbend over into a downwardly directed portion 56 provided with discharge openings 58 for the exhaust gases, the greater part of the combustion taking place while the gas mixture is flowing upwards in the tubes 49.

According to the invention the radiator 48 projects upwardly to such an extent that it covers approximately the lower half of the front area of passage 44. Therefore, when the stream of outgoing or spent room air enters thev space between the two exchanger bodies, after having passed through the heat exchanger 12, only the lower Y radiator 48.V The upper part of the outgoing air stream flows directly into the moisture exchanger 26 and is thus subjected to little or no heating in the gap between the two rotors 12 and 26.

The tubes of the heat radiator 48 are so spaced and shaped that the outgoing air stream in the lower part of the passage 44 becomes uniformly and homogeneously heated to the intended regenerating temperature without any need to subject the air stream to any special lateral mixing in front of the moisture exchanger. A wall 59 may be disposed around the radiator as illustrated in FIGURE 2 in order to avoid unnecessary heat losses from the radiator during the operation of the apparatus.

In front of the heat exchanger 12 a stationary dampening device 60 is ydisposed bridging both passages 42 and 44. The dampening device 60 may be of any known construction, but preferably it is composed of creased or corrugated sheets of water absorbing or brous material, such as paper, the creases or corrugations crossing each other in every second sheet. The sheets are vertically positionedso that axial passages for the air streams are obtained and as illustrated these passages may be wetted from the top by the dampening device.Y

The dampening device 60 receives its moisture from a sprayer 62 in the passage 44 and a sprayer 64 in the passage 42. The sprayers are supported by arms 66 and 68, which are interconnected by means of an arched yoke 70 and which are each pivoted about a central pin 72 Vcarried by the Vpartition wall 40. Between a motor 74 and the arm 66 there is disposed a linkage 76, 7S which imparts to the sprayers 62, 64 an oscillating movement as the motor 74 rotates so that the sprayers sweep over the top of the dampening device 60 in the respective passages 42, 44. Water is supplied to the sprayer 62 through a hose S which is connected through a pump 82'with a sump 84 positioned underneath the dampening device 60 in the passage 44. The sprayer 64 is supplied with water through a hose S6 which is fed with water by means of a pump 88 from a sump 90 underneath the other half of the dampening device which is positioned in the passage ,42. By the two irrigation or watering sys- Y tems being separated from one another the temperatures of the two halves of the dampening device may be different if so desired.

The sprayer 64 is adjustable peripherally relatively to the sprayer 62 and the arm 66. This may be accomplished by mounting the sprayer 64 on a rod 91 which is peripherally adjustable relatively to the arched yoke 70. In this manner the dampening device 60 may be wetted completely or partially in varying degree in the passage 42, and the air stream through the passage will achieve a correspondingly variable degreev of moisture or cooling.

The air header 52 for supplying air to the heat radiator 48 communicates by way of a gap 51 and an opening 53 with an area in front of the heat exchanger 12 and, in the present case, also in front of the dampening device 60. This arrangement ensures that the air supply to the tubes 49 ,of the radiator will be independent of fluctuations of theair pressure between the room to be conditioned andoutside air. Thisis particularly important in order thatV a -constant combustion be attained if the apparatusis mounted outdoors.

The partition wall 40 has a portion 92, see FIGURE 2, which is inclined a small angle in relation to the vertical and which is disposed in the lower part of the gap between the two rotors 12 and 26. The portion 92 extends into the passage 42 and forms a sector 93, through which clean air can be blown. A small amount of fresh air taken from this passage 42 passes Vthrough the sector 93 and then mixes with the regenerating air in the outlet passage 44. A 'similar sector through which clean air can be blown may be arranged at the top of the heat exchanger 12 so that any moist air in the channels of the 4 exchanger can be removed before the channels enter the passage 42. t

The channels of the moisture exchanger 26 are blown clean in this manner. and are freed of combustionV air before they are traversed by the mainl part of the fresh air which then passes on through the heat exchanger 12.

A fan 94 sucks the -air through the outlet or regenerating passage 44, while the discharge end of another fan 96 communicates with the inlet passage 42. Hence the air flow in the two passages 42 and 44 is in opposite directions fonming a counter flow system.

The paper strip mass 36 of the heat Yexchanger 12 mayV be impregnated with some substance, such as water glass,

so that it becomes as heavy as possible, thereby attain-.

the air, which is undesirable as the heat exchanger should transfer as little moisture as possible between the two `air streams. To the .right of the line 98 in FIG. 4 the mass is therefore impregnated with paraiiin or some other substance less hygroscopic but, on the other hand, in-

volving a greater tire hazard-than the melamine if it is exposed to direct radiation from the heat radiator. The paraiiin layer may be wider than the layer of melamine, the two substances being preferably applied on top of the water glass.

Each of the two exchanger bodies 12 Vand 26 is sealed at its outer periphery against the casing 10 but only onA one side, such as the side facing away from the opposite body. For this purpose sealing members generally denoted 100 and 102 in FIG. 4 are provided on the side ofl the heat exchanger 12 facing the damper 60 and on the outer side of the moisture exchanger 26, respectively. The sealing members may be identical in construction and in the embodiment shown each comprises a turnedover `strip 104 of resilientV flexible material clamped between two 4angular brackets 106 secured to the casing 10. The turned-over part of the strip in each case engages the at side of the exchanger body, suitably on a level with the flange 20 and 34, respectively. In this manner the air in the `gaps between the exchanger bodies 12vand'26 has free access in each passage 42, 44 to the outside of the exchanger bodies, which does not matter and at the same time the sealing problem is solved in a most simple manner. At the partition wall 40 sealing may be effected by means of strips 108 pressed by springs 110 against the fiat side surfaces of the exchanger bodies and seated in U-shaped channels 112 rigidly secured to the partition wall. Sealing means of the same kind are also disposed on the outer periphery of the bodies 12 and 26 in the -plane of the partition wall 40.

The air stream leaving the room thus flows, as shown by arrow (FIG. 4), along the outlet passage 44, rst

' through the dampening device 60 where it is moistened to a relative humidity of nearly and is cooled at the same time and it then flows into the exchanger 12. In the heat exchanger 12 the out-going air exchanges heat with the in-coming fresh air which is cooled thereby and the outgoing air will be heated simultaneously. The part of the out-going air passing along the'lower half of the passage 44 is further heated by the heat radiator 48 to a temperature of e.g. l70 C., and thereafter passes through the lower quadrant of the moisture exchanger 26. Moisture received by this lower quadrant of the moisture exchanger is driven off by the heated out-flowing air stream which finally escapes to the atmosphere through the fan via an outlet 94. The in-coming fresh air to be conditioned is However, a substance such as melamine is t warmer and has a higher absolute moisture content at its entrance into the apparatus as compared with the outlowing air leaving the room.

The in-coming fresh air passes, as shown by arrow 97 (FIG. 4), first through the moisture exchanger 26 in the passage 42 and is dried thereby to a moisture content lower than that in the room. As the air is dried the temperature of the air rises, and a first cooling down of the fresh air then takes place in the heat exchanger 12. A second cooling is brought about by the dampening device 60. The fresh air attains a iinal state of a lower temperature and absolute moisture content than the room air.

In view of the fact that the heat radiator 48 occupies only a part of the llow area of the passage 44, only a part of the outgoing air will be heated by the radiator. In this manner economical operation of the process is ensured since the rest of the out-owing air is able to pass straight across the gap between the heat exchanger and the moisture exchanger without diversion and escapes through the fan 94. However, the unheated part of the out-flowing air is not completely inactive but may cause a certain amount of demoistening or drying of the moisture exchanger by passing through this mass when the mass is in its most humid state.

When the apparatus is shut down the heat radiator 4S is naturally at its operating temperature and therefore contains a comparatively large accumulated quantity of heat. If this is allowed to heat the now stagnant air in the gap between the two rotors 12 and 26 on the regenerating side the stagnant air may reach such a temperature that there is a risk of fire especially in the mass 36 of the exchanger 12. On account of the fact that there is an air gap above the heat radiator 48 which is more or less unaffected by the radiator the heat is distributed over a larger mass so that ignition temperatures are unlikely to be reached even under unfortunate circumstances. In addition in its horizontal top portion the wall 59 is arranged with sulicient play in relation to the two rotors for the passage of hot and upwardly rising air. The direction of rotation 46 of the rotor 12 has the effect that that part of the rotor which is in the upper quadrant of the passage 44 will assume its lowest temperature during the revolution, thereby reducing the risk of damages when the apparatus is shut down.

While one more or less specific embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, it is to be understood that this is for purpose of illustration only and that the invention is not to be limited thereby, but its scope is to be determined by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In an air conditioning apparatus comprising an enclosure, a heat exchanger and a moisture exchanger located therein adapted to perform a relative movement across two separated passages which are traversed by an incoming air stream and a regenerating air stream respectively, the regenerating air stream being an outgoing air stream from the enclosure and a heat radiator in the passage traversed by said regenerating air stream, means to divide the regenerating air stream into two partial streams one of which ows through the heat radiator which occupies only a part of the cross-sectional area of the passage, and the other of which llows through the part of the passage not occupied by said heat radiator.

2. In the air conditioning apparatus of claim 1 the passages being disposed on either side of a vertically extending plane and the heat radiator at the lower part of the gap between the two exchanger bodies on the regenerating side.

3. In an air conditioning apparatus comprising a heat exchanger and a moisture exchanger adapted to perform a relative movement across the two separated passages which are traversed by an incoming air stream and a regenerating air stream, respectively, a heat radiator disposed between the two exchangers in the passage for said regenerating air stream, means to direct only a part of the regenerating air stream introduced into the apparatus over the radiator, said heat radiator occupying as much of the cross-sectional area of the passage as is required to heat the desired quantity of regenerating air, while the rest of the regenerating air stream is directed through the remaining part of said cross-section area, the regenerating air stream having upper and lower parts which flow substantially in parallel through each of the exchangers.

4. In the air conditioning apparatus of claim 3 the passages being disposed on either side of a vertically extending plane and the heat radiator at the lower part of the gap between the two exchanger bodies on the regenerating side.

5. In an air conditioning apparatus according to claim 4 the heat exchanger and the moisture exchanger being adapted to rotate in opposite directions, 'the damp exchanger moving downwards on the regenerating side.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,723,837 11/1955 Pennington 165-7X 3,009,540 11/1961 Munters 165-7 X JAMES W. WESTHAVER, Primary Examiner.

CHARLES SUKALO, ROBERT A. OLEARY,

FREDERICK L. MATTESON, JR., Examiners.

A. W. DAVIS, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN AN AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS COMPRISING AN ENCLOSURE, A HEAT EXCHANGER AND A MOISTURE EXCHANGER LOCATED THEREIN ADAPTED TO PERFORM A RELATIVE MOVEMENT ACROSS TWO SEPARATED PASSAGES WHICH ARE TRAVERSED BY AN INCOMING AIR STREAM AND A REGENERATING AIR STREAM RESPECTIVELY, THE REGENERATING AIR STREAM BEING AN OUTGOING AIR STREAM FROM THE ENCLOSURE AND A HEAT RADIATOR IN THE PASSAGE TRAVERSED BY SAID GENERATING AIR STREAM, MEANS TO DIVIDE THE REGENERATING AIR STREAM INTO TWO PARTIAL STREAMS ONE OF WHICH FLOWS THROUGH THE HEAT RADIATOR WHICH OCCUPIES ONLY A PART OF THE CROSS-SECTIONAL AREA OF THE PASSAGE, AND THE OTHER OF WHICH FLOWS THROUGH THE PART OF THE PASSAGE NOT OCCUPIED BY SAID HEAT RADIATOR. 